"Still I Rise" ~Poetic Analysis Presentation

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Transcript of "Still I Rise" ~Poetic Analysis Presentation

Group Members: Olivia Krysinski, Cathy Tanya, Blanche Tecson, and Nick Jeronimo Still I Rise by Maya Angelou The Lesson Poetic devices You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I'll rise.Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise. 1. Repetition: "Still I'll rise" Significance: emphasizes how much hope and confidence she has despite the difficult struggles that she is facingthis gives the reader the importance of never giving up and to always keep trying until you overcome those obstcles 2. Rhyme: "Lies and rise, gloom and room, eyes and cries, hard and yard etc. Significance: these rhymes give the reader clues towards the meaning of the poemsince the rhyming is repetetive throughout the poem, it reveals that the speaker continues to overcome each situation of oppression and each oppressor. 3. Symbolism: "Oil wells" or "rising dust" Significance: oil wells are very expensive and valuable so she is stating that she is worth just as much as everyone else and therefore she should receive just as much respect and love like othersthe oil wells symbolize the confidence she has in herselfFor dust to rise, it must be unsettled from the ground in some way and then forms a dust cloud. But once the dust has been unsettled from the ground, it can leave and RISE. This can be applied to Angelou’s overcome of the obstacles and her oppressors on the “ground” and rising above them all, unsettling and challenging the oppression. 4.Metaphor: "I'm a black ocean" Significance: The colour black creates a sense of fear and evilA “black ocean” symbolizes cruelty and how things occur unexpectedly which reflects on her own lifeThe “black ocean” may also be describing her own race which allows readers to understand that the poem is about racism 5.Rhetorical Question: "Does my sassiness upset you?" Significance: By questioning the reader, it catches the reader’s attention and is affective because it makes readers realize how many people have made the person (“I”) feel and how many people may be feeling.it makes readers read the poem and take it to a more personal level 6.Simile: "Just like moons and like suns Significance: this drives a point home because it is comparing how she continuously raises herself up emotionally to stay strong just, like how the moon and sun rises everyday no matter what happens 7.Hyperbole: "You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise.” Significance: The poet mentioned shooting, cutting, and killing and related to words , eyes, and hatefulness.Used these powerful words to add a subject/ feeling to the poememphasizes the brutal treatment The symbolism is discrimination portrays a strong person living with a positive attitudevery powerful and can be related by anyone in life everybody experiences discrimination, although it may be in different ways and extents it is a struggle that all people go through within their lifetime This poem teaches readers that all humans have strength that lays within us that can help to overcome any obstacles.

The line “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave” shows the importance of having appreciation in those in previous generations for what they have done for us and what they have left the line “I am the dream and the hope of the slave” shows how the author believes that one person stepping up to make a difference or to have their voices heard has a potential of helping those who are also suffering from the same or similar discrimination Summary This poem is about a call for African Americans to be proud of their origin. It is against the prejudice and submission that African Americans had to experience. It's also about overcoming oppression with grace and pride, having no sympathy for the people who put you down and giving to validity to the reasons for cruelty.